Complaint Review: Whirlpool

I am sending this email in hopes that someone within the Whirlpool Corporation actually cares about their customers. I have exhausted every means possible to resolve my issue, but I have been continually met with road blocks and excuses.
 
I purchased a new induction cooktop (model KICU500XBL) as part of a complete kitchen remodel. This decision was based on my belief that Kitchenaid and the Whirlpool Corporation manufactured quality products and offered superior customer service. This proved to be an invalid assumption based on the activities which followed.

Approximately 4 months after it was initially installed it failed to turn on (October 20, 2011). I immediately contacted customer service who in turn directed me to CG Services, an authorized service repair provider (CG Service 6555 10th Street, Chesapeake Beach, MD 20732 (443) 975-4166). The technician notified me that the control board and main board were both defective and required replacement. Both parts were on "factory backorder" and would not be available until the end of November. 

After contacting CG Services several times to check the status of the parts, I was finally notified on 1 December that the parts had been received. The technician replaced the control and mother board that same day, but the cooktop still did not turn on. At this point the technician "guessed that it must be the burner boards" since "they were the only thing left to replace." These parts were placed on order and have since been on "factory backorder" with an estimated delivery date of 1 January.

I contacted Ms. Deborah Ingram (866-640-7146 ext. 3277) several times to see what options were available to expedite the repair of my cooktop. She informed me that only the repair of the component was authorized and that the replacement of the appliance was not an option. I asked Ms. Ingram if there was another supervisor I could talk to about the warranty repair issues and she told me that she was the highest supervisor available and stated that her supervisor was in "management and did not talk to customers directly."

As you can imagine, I am extremely disappointed with the customer service that has been provided by the Whirlpool Corporation to date. Our extended family's Thanksgiving dinner has been held at my home for nearly 25 years.that tradition was broken this year due to Whirlpool's inability to support their products.  And now it seems as though Christmas dinner will have to be held somewhere else as well. So when you are all sitting around your Christmas dinner tables this year, I want you to remember that my family has not had the opportunity to enjoy the holidays in the comfort of our own home, as I completely misjudged Whirlpool's commitment to customer satisfaction as well as their sense of integrity for doing what is right. 

I have been in the logistics field for nearly 30 years and I have never experienced such poor product support in all my years. It starts with educating your technicians and providing them the tools necessary to repair an appliance. The technician who showed up at my house had no wiring schematic,  no technical manual, no testing and troubleshooting procedures, etc. He simply guessed at what he thought might be the problem.unacceptable. I don't even need to mention the mismanagement of your supply chain as anyone who has been involved in wholesale/retail distribution can plainly see how ill-managed it is. If the appliance has not performed as expected and reliability has proven to be less than projected, where was the investment in replacement parts to avoid extended out of service times?

I hope that this does not fall on deaf ears. Marketing 101.create value for your customer. You have failed to create any value for me and I will never recommend Kitchenaid, Maytag, Amana, or any other Whirlpool product to anyone I happen to encounter. Your poor performance is documented all over the internet, but I did not heed the warning and simply wrote off all the complaints as "disgruntled customers".well add me to the list.